Writing Information
| |
Writing Information |
|
|
|
|
Writing For The Web: Where To Get Article Ideas
A friend and I were talking the other day about writing. He liked to write, but even so his biggest problem was finding things to write about. My friend was astounded at the volume of writing that I do - at least one article and something as many as six, per day. Where do I get all of the ideas from? I, in turn, was astonished myself. Why on earth would anyone have any trouble finding things to write about? In fact, my main problem has been I have so much to write about that I often find myself locked in a silent battle over which subject should be put on paper first. People find it even more amazing when I tell them I try very hard to only write about positive events and provide helpful articles. Only rarely will you find any of my writings containing criticism, complaints or, worst of all, whining. Occasionally I will write an article which recommends against purchasing a product, seeing a movie, reading a book or visiting a web site, but these are the exception. The world is a huge, amazing, wondrous place. Things are going on around us all of the time. There is so much good to see and do all over the planet, so very many wonderful things going on all over the place, that it's easy to find something to communicate about if only you open your eyes and look. One of my passions is the internet. I've written over 1,000 articles about all aspects of this massive communication medium. Much of this is taken from my 23 years of experience in the computer field, and the rest is from research, reading and, most of all, questions from other people. Although much of my writing is about the internet, I also find time to communicate about many other subjects as well. These include relationships (marriage and romance), raising children, building a career, handling office politics, current events, hobbies and history. I have yet to find a subject which I don't have something useful to contribute to other people. How do I find so much to write about? Let me tell you some of the ways: Many of my article ideas some from real life - For example, I have a long and happy marriage, so I like to write articles which help people with their relationships. I've also worked hard most of my life, as have most people, building a career, which is another area where I enjoy passing along tips to help others. Question and answer sites - Sites like askme.com and askjeeves.com are perfect places to visit once in a while looking for ideas for articles. I visit and just scan the questions (and there are thousands of them), looking for anything which looks interesting. When I find something, I write an article. Newsgroups - There are over 70,000 newsgroups. Most of these are worthless, but several thousand of them contain useful information and varied conversations. Lurk in any active newsgroup for a while and you should find something worthwhile to write about. Yahoo and DMOZ - Visit any big directory site and you will find thousands of subjects to explore. Egroups and Topica - There are thousands of email discussion lists available at these two sites. Sign up for a few and get articles ideas from them. There are many other places to look for article ideas all over the internet. I tend to avoid looking at things like ezines, ebooks and web sites for article ideas. Why? Because when I look for article ideas I am not looking for answers. What I tend to look for is questions. What kind of questions are people asking? Is there a question which begs some further analysis and a little more explanation than a simple sentence? It does not matter if someone else has already answered, as my primary purpose is not to provide raw information. My primary purpose is to help people understand. You can find out raw information from any number of books or encyclopedias, but finding out how to clean up the clutter in your bedroom, well, that takes something different. That requires the experience and knowledge passed from someone who has had to go through the experience of cleaning many times, so many times that it has become easy. Interestingly, I've found that television is not as worthwhile as one would expect for article ideas. Excluding a few reviews, I've found television to be a vast wasteland, void of anything but the most trivial or violent concepts in our society. The exceptions are, of course, channels such as Nova, History channel and Discovery. So the next time you are trying to figure out something to write about for your own ezine, web site or ebook, just check out a newsgroup, elist or directory on a subject which you find interesting. Sooner or later, you will get an idea and you can start writing. About The Author Richard Lowe Jr. is the webmaster of Internet Tips And Secrets. This website includes over 1,000 free articles to improve your internet profits, enjoyment and knowledge. Web Site Address: http://www.internet-tips.net Weekly newsletter: http://www.internet-tips.net/joinlist.htm Claudia Arevalo-Lowe is the webmistress of Internet Tips And Secrets and Surviving Asthma. Visit her site at http://survivingasthma.com
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
A Writers Inner Battle There is a psychological nuisance so powerful that can deflate the drive, self-esteem, and human spirit of many aspiring Writers of any age. These Writers are faced with an obstacle that make them stop, think twice and question their right to be a part of a respected community. Tips for First Time Authors : 2 Easy Steps to Make Your First Book a Success Congratulations on writing your first book. That is quite an accomplishment. Best Writing Advice I Ever Got I've been in the communications business a long time?over 25 years. During that period I've gathered writing suggestions from all over, and put much of it in my new book "Words That Stick. Grow Your Ideas Without Letting Words Grow Like Weeds Q: How do I expand on an idea without getting too wordy?A. Before you begin counting words, focus on holding the reader's interest. Writing the 8 WebCopy Headline Categories My article this issue is an excerpt from a book I was reading recently titled; The Copywriters Handbook by Robert Bly, a secondary small niche I focus on a bit. It categorizes the different types of headlines which are most common and in use today. 7 Steps to Successful Publishing The decision to publish a book is very exciting! It causes the creative juices to flow and the eyes to light up. But wait - before you begin the publishing process, know about the seven most important steps you need to know before publishing your book. 8 Quick Tips on Creating Vivid, Memorable Characters These 8 tips on using characters in your stories will help you make sure that readers are involved with your story people right from the start.Tip 1: Make sure that the reader knows as early as possible who the viewpoint character is in any scene. Make Your Mark Upon Humanity The greatest gift you have to give to yourself and humanity is the book, the song, the poem the artwork or invention that is locked away within your consciousness.All of us have this gift that needs to come out. The Writing Life In the 7th grade I wanted to be an architect but it turns out math is involved. Who knew? My 8th grade English teacher talked me into working on the school newspaper and I was hooked. Is Someone Plagiarizing Your Work? About two weeks ago I received an article submissionthat immediately attracted my attention. The title wasidentical to the title of an article I wrote and whichwas published in 'WebProNews' in May 1999. Mission Possible: Get Published with Goals, Guidance, and Persistance You send me an e-mail. You tell me you've written over three hundred poems since you were 16 (in your teenage angst stage). Print-On-Demand: A Definition and a Comparison The purpose of this article is to consider Print-On-Demand publishing as an alternative for the aspiring author. It has its strengths and its weaknesses. Time-Saving Skills to Get More from Your Writing As you set out to create your first niche non-fiction book (and hopefully your first bestseller), you will be supported by a strong motivation to keep your mind focused on the essential business at hand i.e. Writing Tips for your Journey Tips for your writing journeySo, you'd like to be a writer? Congrats! Writing not only is a great way to express yourself, but can provide an income. Keep in mind not all writers make a fortune, some still cant quit their day job. Does Your Plot Suit Your Characters And Vice-Versa? Creative Writing Tips -When an idea comes to us for a short story, we either think of a story line first or a character first. Whichever we think of first, and later on build, we have to make sure the plot and the character suit each other. Business Writing: 10 Great Authors Great business writers combine narrative skills with sound judgment to create classics that help both the beginner and the mid-career professional.Writing's completely subjective. Blank Mind, Blank Screen: Need Ideas! Q. I'm staring at a blank screen with an equally blank mind. Getting Past The Shoulds To Write During the past few months I have received many questions as to how I have gone from an unknown writer to over coming society's adversarial thoughts on what writing should be and become a well known writer. So, today, I was inspired to write on this. To Transcribe or Not To Transcribe Interviews? 11 Secrets from an Experienced InterviewerOne of the unwritten rules of writing a book, an article, or any sort of material that requires the writer to interview experts or people "in the know" is to tape record the conversation. Whether the recording occurs via phone or in person is irrelevant. Making The Time To Write That Novel Finding the time to write a novel is one of the major issues confronting writers, particularly those who haven't been published yet. How does one justify to themselves, or to their loved ones, that they need time to write if they have demands on their time, like a job, or a house to be cleaned, a family to be fed, or shopping to do? They make the time.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2007 www.Info-StoreHouse.com |
